River of Memories
by SeverusNight
Summary: Yuugi is depressed, Yami and Atemu dont seem to care. What happens when friends from the past come back with protection on their minds? Rated M for swearing and violence and maybe lemons havent yet decided on that.
1. By Myself

Disclaimer: I will only say this once. I dont own anything but the plot and Nuri and Nara.

* * *

Chapter one: By myself

Sunlight danced across the desert sand, laughter filled the air. Three teenagers raced across the sand in a deserted part of town.

"Nuri, Nara!" the boy yelled chasing after them, the two girls turned and smiled at the boy.

"Heba!" Nuri said her voice soft and loving. "You're so slow! If we dont go now we will be scolded again!"

Heba raced toward them. His tri-colored hair standing strait up despite the heat and him running. He stopped just before them hands on his knees and his head bent as he tried to catch his breath. "I am not slow." he gasped "you two are just fast!" he laughed. Heba looked at his only two friends their identical smiles glowing at him.

Nara and Nuri looked different despite being sisters, true they were both tanned by the hot Egyptian sun, but they couldnt look more different beside that. Nuri had black hair that reached the middle of her back, her eyes were like two sapphires giving her an ethereal look. She was shorter than Nara by a couple inches, she was curvy for a girl of 16 summers. Nara on the other hand had hair the color of the sand they were currently standing on, it was short and framed her face perfectly. Two large emerald colored eyes framed by dark lashes gave the oldest of the three a young innocent look. She was tall and skinny. At 18 summers she was having to reject offers of marriage daily.

Nuri hugged Heba tightly. "We are not that fast Heba." she said kindly she pulled away from him and looked him in his Amethyst colored eyes. "Come on we can have a bit of a rest before we have to get back to the palace."

Nara and Heba groaned, "Do we have to go back there Nuri?" Nara whined. Nuri nodded at her sister with a roll of her eyes.

The three sat where they were and pulled water skins off of their waists. After a long drink Heba sighed and lied down on the sand.

"So how goes your guy's work?" he asked innocently.

Nara groaned again "Terrible!" she cried "That freaking priest is a slave driver! The only good thing about him is that he lets me wear the clothes I had with me when Nuri and I were bought." She said gesturing to the brightly colored skirt and top she had on. She played with a coin on the sash around her waist. "Why do you think mom and dad did it Nuri?" her voice dropped lower.

Nuri sighed. "I dont know Nara. I just dont know." she shook her head and turned to Heba. "Work goes okay I guess. As okay as it can go working for Prince Atemu. He lets me wear my clothes as well. It does get boring though. I have to follow him everywhere. I mean everywhere. Those council meetings make me want me to bash my head into the Pharaohs throne. But then I would have to clean the blood on it after so its not worth it." she finished with a giggle. "What about you Heba?"

Heba sighed "Sucks to be honest. Princess Mari is well how should I put it." he thought for a moment. "The typical Royal girl"

Nuri patted Heba's shoulder, Heba laughed "Sympathy pat?" He questioned

"Sympathy pat." Nuri confirmed and looked up at the sun. "We have to go now! We are going to be late!"

The three teens scrambled to their feet and took off running full speed toward the palace.

* * *

"Yuugi." A voice called to him, Yuugi began to stir.

"Five more minuets grandpa." he groaned wanting to continue his dream.

Solomon Muto chuckled lightly. "You will be late if you don't get up now."

Yuugi's eyes flew open and he sat up making his grandpa startle a bit at his sudden movement. He looked at his grandpa eyes wide.

"How late?" he asked fearfully.

Solomon chuckled again. "You wont be I just said that to make you get up child. But if you go back to sleep I wont wake you up again till after school starts okay?"

Yuugi sighed and pushed his golden bangs out of his eyes. "Okay grandpa." he said with a smile and pushed his comforter off of him. Yuugi got up and stretched.

Solomon smiled at his grandson, "Have a good day Yuugi." he said walking out the door.

As Yuugi got ready for school he thought about his dream, since Yami had gotten a body, the gods also granting Atemu a body since the two had become two different people, Yuugi had started to remember his past life as the slave boy Heba.

His memories manifesting themselves different ways mostly as dreams. He had begun to remember all sorts of things, his favorite foods, colors, the day he had become a slave to Atemus younger sister, and most importantly Nuri and Nara, two gypsy girls bought by the pharaoh for his son and nephew. The two girls radically different. Nara the sweet mothering type. Nuri the caring spit fire Atemu tried and failed to brake. As he thought about the two girls a pang of longing shot through him. Strange as it sounded he missed them terribly. He had felt so alone without them, especially now, Yuugi sighed as depression suddenly over came his mind. He sighed and glanced over at the wall his bed was pushed against.

On the other side of that wall was Yamis room, tears pricked at his eyes he had been in love with the pale skinned man for well over a year. It had been just over a year and a half since Yami and Atemu had been granted their bodies. Over a year since the two had started school with him, and exactly a year since everyone had stopped talking to him. He turned his attention from the wall to the skylight and gazed out to the sky. 'Nuri.' he thought 'I need you and Nara now more then ever.' Yuugi shook himself, grabbed his bag, ran down the stairs and into the bright morning.

-Somewhere in the after life-

Two women sat in their version of the afterlife. One sitting down with a scowl set on her pretty features. The other pacing and cursing under her breath.

"Nuri." Nara said her voice deathly calm a sure sign the woman was pissed off. "Calm down."

Nuri turned her attention to her older sister "No Nara." she raved "I will not calm down! That's our Heba down there!"

Nara sighed "I know that Nuri." she said as she got up " We can't do anything, we are dead."

Nuri glared at Nara. "Don't you think I don't know that Nara?" she asked and lifted up a thick read rope "In this last year alone his life thread has shortened four times!" she screamed "much more of this and he will die by the end of next year!"

"I know!" Nara roared "he means just as much to me as he does to you! You don't think I'm scared for him? Of course I am!"

Nuri sighed her anger melting from her "then what do we do Nara?" she asked her tone defeated

Nara thought "Let's go see what Ra has in mind."

Nuri nodded and walked to the far end of the elaborate room once there she held out her left wrist and called out "I wish to speak to the sun god!" seconds ticked by, suddenly the whole room shook and a door appeared in front of the gypsy turned slave.

A deep male voice echoed off the walls. "Enter Gypsy Nuri and Gypsy Nara."

Nara cast a glance at Nuri, she rolled her eyes, Ra was such a show off. The two opened the door and walked into a brightly lit room. As they approached the god sitting on a throne of fire the two got on their knees and bowed till their faces were nearly on the floor.

"You may stand." Ra said and the two stood up. "Speak." he commanded

Nuri smiled micheviously and opened her mouth "arrf arrf!" she said.

Ra rolled his eyes and shook his head "I should have expected that one. Now if you don't mind would you tell me what the hell you want?" he asked "I am very busy and don't have time for your actions young lady."

Nara groaned "I apologize for my younger sisters actions." she said respectfully "but we have come here to bring to your attention a matter we consider very serious as a young boys life is in danger."

This got the gods attention rather rapidly "What is going on then?" he asked curiously

Nuri took over "It concerns our friend you and the others deemed fit to be a holder of a Sennen item."

Ra's eyes narrowed "Do go on." he said

Nuri nodded and continued "The holder of the Sennen puzzle to be exact. It has come to our attention that his life thread has shortened four times with no indication that it will re lengthen to it's intended length anytime soon,"

Ra sighed "Cut the formal bullshit gypsy and tell me what is going on" he growled angry

Nara looked up at him her eyes full of hatred "Your pharaoh, you know the one you decided had changed too much and gave him and the other one different bodies? Yeah he's the reason I'm sure." she took a shuttering breath "for the last year Yami and the actual pharaoh Atemu have been acting like Yuugi doesn't exist, essentially the little hikari is falling so far into depression he is running the risk of turning dark and dying by the end of next year."

Ra ran a hand over his white eyes "You have got to be kidding me!" he yelled his voice booming through the ante chamber

"Afraid not Ra." a new voice said

Ra lifted his head to look over the girls's heads. There in the doorway stood three celestial beings and Akefia the tomb robber.

"Isis, Osiris, Anubis." he said curtly "May I ask why the intrusion?"

"I just got back from weighing today's souls worthiness when I had an interesting thing happen." he said "A new name was added to my books a name which was not suppose to be in there for a good long time." he growled he looked at Nara "You were wrong young one, the hikari Yuugi Moutu's name was added to my books, to be harvested at the end of this year."

At the news the throne room went quiet for a split second, Nuri then began started swearing loudly, her cursing so colorful it actually made the gods look at her oddly.

Ra shook his head and looked at they Gypsy's "tell me girls." he said with ill repressed anger "what exactly are you willing to do to help this young one?"

"Anything." Nuri growled Nara nodding in agreement

"Even die a true death?" he asked silence hung in the air after the question was asked Nuri and Nara looked at eachother, determination set onto their faces

"Of course." Nara said with a grin.

Ra nodded and looked at Osiris "Do it."

Osiris nodded

"Wait." Akefia said "send me back as well."

Ra raised an eyebrow. "And why would we do that?" he asked

Akefia smiled "Atemu can be dangerous at the best of times, they will need protection." he shrugged "and they're Gypsies, they probably know some pretty wicked curses I wouldn't inflict on my worst enemy,"

Ra sighed "Valid point," he grumbled "Osiris make it happen."

Osiris nodded and walked away.

-Back on Earth-

Yuugi got to school in record time having run the whole way. He leaned against a tree and tried to catch his breath. He sat down at the base of the tree and looked at his watch. Yuugi groaned. He was early. A laugh brought Yuugis attention back to the people around him. His eyes landed on Anzu, she was laughing at something Jounouchi had said. Yami, Atemu, Seto, and Honda laughed with her.

Yuugi felt his heart clench as he watched them, they had no idea he wasnt even with them, they didnt care that he wasnt with him. Yuugi closed his eyes and fought the tears that came to his eyes, he was trying to think of something else, anything else that would get his mind off the fact that his friends stood less then 25 feet away from him not aknowlegding that he was there. The soft tones of a song started playing.

"_Pour me, pour me, pour me another,_

_It holds me, holds me,_

_Like no other,_

_One more drink, then I swear that I'm going home,_

_Truth is, I don't really have a place to go,_

_So pour me, pour me, pour me another._

_I wake up right about the mid-afternoon,_

_With the sun in the sky but night's coming soon,_

_And I walk to the mirror just to fix myself,_

_Yeah life gets harder when you love nothing else,_

_So I pick my pills from the counter drawer,_

_Pick my self-esteem up off the fucking floor,_

_I guess I'm a man of no recourse,_

_As I crack another bottle, got no remorse,_

_And I'll say a little prayer for the child in me,_

_I swear I used to be what I truly believe,_

_That I'm not just a man with these broken dreams,_

_That even I could go to heaven,_

_If I part the seas_

_So..."_

Yuugi scrambled to find his phone, he threw his back pack on the ground and reached into the second largest pocket and pulled it out. Quickly he answered it.

"Hello?" he asked curious as to who was calling this early in the morning.

"Hey Yuugi!" Ryou's voice came over the line.

"Ryou?" he asked confused. "How did you get my number?"

Ryou laughed and a voice shouted in the background "Im a thief what the hell did you expect shrimp?"

Yuugi raised an eyebrow. "You stole my number?" he asked "From who?"

Ryou laughed again, "Who knows!"

"So what did you need?"

Ryou stopped laughing, "Hold on Yuugi, I'm putting you on speaker."

Yuugi nodded and heard Ryou fiddling with his phone trying to figure it out.

"Got it" he exclaimed "Can you hear me?"

Yuugi pulled the phone away from his ear "Loud and clear." he said sarcastically.

"Good" Ryou said "Anyway Malik and Marik are here as well."

"Okay." Yuugi said still confused as to why Ryou was calling him.

"Right lets get right down to it." Bakura's voice intereupted his musing "Has the pharaoh pulled his head out of his ass yet?"

"Bakura!" Ryou and Malik shouted together clearly angry with Ryou's yami.

"He's just stating the obvious Ryou." Marik growled hatefully

Yuugi sighed "Guys quit it, and no Bakura," Yuugi said pinching the bridge of his nose "Yami hasnt, as you so elegantly put it, pulled his head out of his ass yet. None of them have."

Since invaded the line.

"Please tell me that your joking and that Anzu, Jou, and Honda still talk to you." Bakura said his voice calm a sure sign he was going to explode.

"Sadly no. The pharaohs are more important I guess." the young Hikari said dejectedly.

"God mother of dammit!" Ryou growled

"Mother of Godkiss!" Malik shouted at the same time.

Bakura and Marik were strangely quiet, their Hikari's still swearing every word they could come up with in multiple languages.

"Ryou, Malik." Marik said anger coloring his tone.

"What?!" the two Hikari's shouted.

"How soon do you think we can get back to Domino?"

"Bakura, Malik." Yuugi said "You guys dont need to do that."

"Yes we do." Bakura said. "Your a Hikari, do you even know what that entitles? Did Yami or Atemu tell you?"

"What are you talking about Bakura?" Yuugi asked once again confused.

"Thats it!" Marik yelled, Yuugi heard stomping and a door slamming.

"What happened?" Yuugi asked frantically.

Ryou sighed "Marik and Bakura just stormed out."

"Why?"

This time Malik answered. "I think I know, but they probably went to see my sister."

Yuugi sighed wondering why the Yami's were so angry. Suddenly the bell rang. "crap." he said. "hey guys I gotta go. School is starting."

"Alright." Ryou said "Bye Yuugi."

"Bye." he whispered and hung up. Grabbing his backpack and shoving his phone into it he took off toward his class.

-Else where-

Nuri woke up with a gasp of breath, she bolted up her chest heaving. Sweat stuck to her skin and her heart was thudding rapidly. "What the hell!" she said out of breath, she placed her hand over her heart and tried to calm herself down. Nuri felt like she had just performed for hours on end and then went for a run afterwords, or maybe had gotten into a fight with Akefia.

When she had calmed herself down enough she got out of the bed she had been sitting in. She stood, and promptly fell down her legs were weak as she tried to stand again, this time using the bed for support. "Nara, Akefia." she said as loud as she could, her voice scratchy.

Nuri gritted her teeth realizing it wasnt near loud enough for either of them to hear her, she stood to her full height, switched her hold from the bed to the night stand and looked around. The room was large and bright, two glass sliding doors were the main source of light, the walls were cream colored and heavily decorated, Nuri gasped, the decorations were almost exact replicas of the wall hangings she had acquired in Ancient Egypt. She looked down to the floor, it was covered in a soft purple carpet. Shear cloth decorated the ceiling and attached to the walls at random places, they also covered her bed in various colors. All in all the large room was covered in stuff and dark colors that screamed 'Nuri' to anyone who knew her. Pillows were piled in the corner and a bookcase took up much of the wall on the other side of the room. Nuri smiled when she saw this. She loved learning things almost as much as she did dancing and fighting.

After a few minuets she felt she finally had the strength to open the heavy ornate door and go downstairs. Nuri made her way down the hall and finally to the stairs, she groaned. "You have got to be shitting me." she grumbled as she began descending the many stairs "what is the use of all of these steps!?"

A deep chuckle pulled her out of her thoughts and nearly caused her to fall. Nuri glanced up as she felt two arms wrap around her exposed stomach. "Akefia!" she growled "Dont do that again!"

Akefia smirked and tried to give the young Gypsy an innocent look. "Do what? Chuckle?" as he spoke his sharp canines were exposed to Nuri's sight.

"No you dumb ass!" Nara's voice wafted up to them from the ground floor. "I assume she means scare her stupid Tomb Robber! Now release her!"

Akefia rolled his eyes and straightened Nuri before releasing her "Happy now harpy?" he hissed.

Nara nodded "For now at least. Now come on you two." she said and turned "There's a letter I the living room. Apparently the keepers of the pharaohs tomb bought this place and everything in it for us."

"Really?" Nuri said confusion written on her face. "Why?"

Nara shrugged "The hell if I know!" she laughed "Something about the gods."

Nuri rolled her eyes and followed her sister into the living room, she looked around and groaned "This house is huge!"

Nara nodded and groaned as well as if she were just realizing something.

Akefia laughed at the two despondent looking girls. "So what if the house is huge? It will suit our needs better wont it?" he asked.

Nuri glared at him. "That may be true Akefia only one problem." she said her tone defeated.

Akefia raised an eyebrow "And that would be?"

"We are going to have to clean it." she said and walked over to the table, grabbing the letter she began to read it out loud.

_Gypsies and Tomb Robber,_

_ First things first, let me congratulate you on your opportunity at life. __That aside I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Ishizu Ishtar, I am one of the people who watched over __the pharaohs tomb. I also hold the Sennen Necklace. The gods saw fit for the items to be returned when the pharaoh decided to stay. _

_ Which brings us to the reason you came back. Yuugi Moutu is currently enrolled in Domino Highschool, Gypsy Nuri and Tomb robber Akefia you will be automatically enrolled as well two months from now, also Gypsy Nara two months from now the Secretary position at Kiba Corp with be opening up. Take it. You three are to stay away from Yuugi Moutu for the next two months. In that time Gypsy Nara and Gypsy Nuri the gods want you to retrain yourselves with your magic. Tomb Robber Akefia you are to do whatever you want that wont get you imprisoned. _

_ Also, in these two months you are to learn everything you can about the world as it is now. There are books in each of your rooms. Read them is that understood? do hope so. I have given you all bank accounts, this is how we exchange money these days. You all have cell phones and are programmed into eachothers contacts. Learn how to use them. Again I congratulate you on your new lives. _

_Contact me if needed,_

_Ishizu Ishtar._

"There's numbers at the bottom Nara." Nuri said confused.

Nara nodded "I know. I already know how to use the cell phone things she referenced."

Nuri looked at her sister an eyebrow raised. "How? You couldnt have woken up much sooner than Akefia or I right?"

Nara shook her head with a smile. "You two have been out for about three sun cycles."

Nuri gasped "That long?!" she asked.

* * *

A/N: I know it isnt that long. But I felt like it should end at that. Anyway for those wondering what the hell I was thinking when I used God mother of dammit and Mother of godkiss. Well I blame D&amp;D also being fustrated because of it


	2. As the world falls down

A/N: Thank you to all the people who have reviewed and followed this story! I think so far this has gotten the most reviews, follows and favorites out of all of my stories. I am so happy that people have enjoyed this so far! Without further adieu here is the second chapter of River of memories! Enjoy!

Chapter 2: As the world falls down

Yuugi sighed as he looked out the window of his homeroom. The world was painted a dreary gray, rain falling down in thick water droplets, the weather was doing nothing for the mood of the depressed teen. Yuugi tore his eyes away from the window and tried to focus on his school work, unbidden a memory pushed its way to the forefront of his mind. The last good memory he had of hanging out with his friends before his life went to the dogs.

~Flash back~

Jou, Yami, Atemu, Anzu, Yuugi, Honda and strangely Kiba ran out of the school into the harsh rain. Jou ever the child immediately ran to the biggest puddle and stomped in it. Anzu let out a screeching yell as she was coated with the muddy water.

"Jou!" she yelled angry at him "What was that for?"

Jou laughed and shook his head. "Sorry Anzu," he said with a smile "Didnt think it would hit ya."

Anzu growled and ran at Jou, the young man gave an un-manly shriek and ran away from her. Atemu, Honda, Yami, and Yuugi started laughing at their friends expense while Kiba just shook his head and walked off towards his limo.

~End flash back~

Yuugi bit his lip and forced himself out of the memory, hot tears stung his eyes, and he began to shake. These last couple of months had been especially hard, despite being in his last year of high school Yuugi still was the smallest of the class. His shaking became harder as more memories these not happy assaulted his brain. Shakily he stood and made his way to the front of the class.

"Excuse me." he said quietly. "May I go to the bathroom please?"

The teacher looked up at him startled before taking in his face and a look of worry crossing her features. She pulled out a slip of paper and wrote him a hall pass. "Take your time." she whispered.

Yuugi nodded and practically ran from the room, he didnt stop until he reached the roof. The door slamming open Yuugi ran out into the rain. He stopped about half way across the roof and fell to his knees, his hands flew to his ears and he tired to block out the sounds and images of the hell his life had become. He stayed like that for a while his body's shaking slowing before eventually stopping.

Finally free from the disastrous memories he stood and walked to the edge of the roof and grabbed the wire fencing.

"Why Yami?" he asked quietly to himself. "why did you leave me?" Yuugi once again bit his lip and let go of the fence.

Sitting down he reached into the inner pocket of his uniform and pulled out a pack of smokes and a lighter. He picked one from his pack, placed it in his mouth and lit the end. He let his head fall back as he took a long drag. Half way through the smoke Yuugi got up and began to pace. Thoughts racing through his brain like a runaway train threatening to crash, burn and draw him down a cascading hole that would swallow him whole.

Yuugi looked up at the sky, warm drops of rain falling on his face as he whispered. "Gods please save me from this hell, I dont know what I did to deserve this but please." his voice broke going an octave higher than its normal tone. "please, take me away from this." Yuugi took a long drag off his smoke and looked over the edge of the school roof. "I could do it," he mused "no one would even know for a couple days, I could"

Yuugi shook himself, '_no.'_ he thought _'I wont let this break me more than it already has. I can't, for grandpa's sake'_

-Else where-

Nuri sat on the couch, her leg bouncing nervously. Akefia watched with an amused look on his face.

"Would you stop that Nuri!" Nara hissed, her emerald eyes narrowing in irritation.

Nuri sighed and pulled her legs under her now sitting cross legged on the couch "Sorry Nara" she whispered. "Im just nervous."

"We could tell." Akefia said with a smirk. "You made it quite obvious gypsy girl."

Nara reached out and slapped Akefia on the back of the head. "Not helping." she growled

Akefia glared at Nara, "you know Harpy." he said "you will never get a guy when you treat them like shit!"

Nara shrugged, "Not exactly on my priority list Robber."

"No wonder you're such a harpy." he muttered as Nara growled at him once again.

Nuri rolled her eyes, stood and stretched, "When do you think they will be here?" she asked walking out of the living room.

Nara followed her sister, "Who knows sis." she said as the two walked into the library, "personally they can take as long as they like."

"Worried about that job at Kiba corp?" Nuri asked scanning the shelves for a book interesting enough to hold her attention for a while.

"Not really," Nara sighed, "I mean we only have as much knowledge about modern times as the books we have could tell us, its probably going to be completely different when actually living it."

Nara nodded and grabbed a manga off the shelf. Leaning against said shelf she began to read, "Maybe it wasn't the best idea to wake up at Ra's first light." she commented to herself.

Silence invaded the library as the two girls lost themselves in their own worlds. After what seemed like hours Akefia came walking into the room.

"Harpy, Gypsy." He said, the two girls snapped their heads up to look at him. "They're here," he said and walked back out.

Nara flipped over onto her stomach and stretched like a cat. Sighing in relief when she felt her spine pop she got up and walked over to Nuri.

"Ready?" she asked

Nuri put the book away and followed Nara out of the library and down the short hallway into the living room.

Entering the living room Nuri and Nara were met with three unknown people. The woman standing in the middle of the room wore traditional Egyptian clothing, long black hair came just below her shoulders, around her neck sat the Sennen Necklace.

"Hello." she greeted with a slight smile. "I am Ishizu Ishtar, that one." she pointed to a boy with sandy blond hair and light purple eyes. "Is my brother Malik, his friend" her finger moved to the other boy, the boy gave a bright smile and fiddled with his white hair. " is Ryou Bakura"

"Hi." Nara said nervously, stepping slightly in front of her sister, despite exchanging phone calls and the like every so often with the woman, Nara still didnt quite trust her. "Im Nara, this is my younger sister Nuri, and that bastard over there is Akefia."

"Easy there Harpy." he growled "I may just get sick of that mouth one day."

Ishizu laughed and shook her head. "As much as I would love to sit and listen to this witty banter all day, we do have a schedule to keep. A rather important one, so if there are no further objections I say we get down to it." At this she was met with silence, with a nod of her head, Ishizu continued, "Right then, Akefia, Nuri, you two will go to school starting tomorrow morning, Ryou and Malik with escort you there, Nara, today you have a job interview with the head of Kiba corp Seto Kiba, I stress this young one, it is of the utmost importance that you get this job, Seto doesnt like disobedience with his employees, so you must make sure to your temper in check. I have brought clothes that will fit you so no need to go through your closet to find clothes for this. We leave in half an hour."

-Back at the school-

Yuugi curled into a ball as the person above him kicked him once again. Suddenly he was hauled up and held there, his toes barely touching the ground, the person that had been kicking him was now punching him in the stomach and ribs. Pain coursed through his being, dark spots began to dance before his eyes and his breathing was short and labored. Finally after what seemed like an eternity of pain, Yuugi was dropped and the beatings stopped. He heard the people walking away as he once again curled into a ball to try and ease some of the pain.

Yuugi lay there till the pain started to ebb away, unsteadily he got to his feet using the wall of the school for support. Yep just another day in the life of Yuugi Mutou. He picked up his backpack from the ground and started to make his way home, the entire journey should have taken only about 10 minuets, however with the beating Yuugi got it took him about double that to make his way to the familiar game shop that was his home.

Entering through the back door Yuugi noticed the house felt cold, there were no lights on. '_grandfather must be out doing something_' he thought _ 'Yami and Atemu are probably out with the others.' _

Thankful for the reprieve of questions his grandfather usually asked him if he was home late, Yuugi made his way to his bedroom, closing the door with a soft_ '__click'_, he fell onto his bed with a contended sigh.

It was a couple seconds before the teen was able to fall into the bliss of unconsciousness.

-Else where-

The smell of cooking greeted Nara as she walked into the house, she inhaled deeply. "Nuri?" she called out "Robber, where are you?"

"In the kitchen!" Nuri's voice called back to her seconds later Akefia's voice called out from somewhere else in the large house.

"Not in the kitchen!"

Nara chuckled and toed off her shoes, she reached up to her hair and pulled the god forsaken thing out of it. The head band was about the only thing that could get Nara's curly hair to behave. She grumbled as she rubbed behind her ears and started for the kitchen.

Opening the door she was greeted to the site of Nuri literally dancing about the kitchen as soft music was played.

Nara laughed gaining her sisters attention. "Gee Nuri." she said. "Are you cooking or practicing for the ballet?"

Nuri smirked "a little of both." she said in a sing song manner. "So how did it go?"

Nara groaned, turned around and none to gently slammed her forehead into the door.

Nuri laughed at her sisters antics, "That bad huh? You didn't get the job did you?" she asked between bouts of laughter.

Nara muttered something and turned around. "Worse." she said dramaitically. "I got the job!"

Nuri blinked confusion written on her face. "Isnt that a good thing?" 

"No Nuri!" she wailed "Its terrible! Damn the gods! Damn them!"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Nuri said "hang on just a minute here! You got the job and because of that you're damning the gods?! Nara what has gotten into you!"

"Damn the priest and the gods!" Nara yelled not paying attention "Damn them both to the outer ring of the shadow realm!"

"Nara!" Nuri yelled and grabbed her sister by the upper arms "You are not allowed to go bat shit crazy on me! Now whats going on?"

Nara hung her head. "I got the job." she muttered dejectedly.

"Yes I got that." Nuri said with a roll of her eyes.

"I work for the damned Priest again!" Nara said and burried her face in her hands.

"Wait. You mean Seth? The priest got reincarnated?" Nuri asked confused.

Her sister simply nodded. Nuri's eyes grew wide, she let go of her sister and stepped back a couple paces, she raised a hand to her mouth trying to keep back the laughter that threatened to spill out of her.

"Its not funny Nuri!" Nara growled defensively

That did it, Nuri began to laugh, she fell to the floor and held her stomach. "This is hilarious!" she gasped through her laughter.

"Im glad you find it to be so." Nara said dryly, "I however do not."

-Time skip-

The next morning Nuri woke up before Ra's first light, yawning and rubbing the sleep from her eyes she grabbed a fresh towel and made her way to the bathroom for a nice soak. Drawing the bath water Nuri thought about the day. _'Heba'_ she thought as she shut off the water and carefully got in. _'Just hang on a little longer nuur, Ill be there soon.' _

-With Yuugi-

Yuugi groaned as he got out of bed, his muscles were sore with the fading pain and fatigue. Sighing the teen ran a hand through his disheveled hair, quietly he went the stairs and out the front door. Once out side Yuugi walked down a little ways before lighting a smoke. His throat burned as he took his first drag of the day, he smoked rather quickly, a habit formed out of fear that his grandpa would find out. Once done he flicked the butt into the street and walked back to his home.

Opening the door to his house he quietly shut it before running back up the stairs to his room. Hurriedly he grabbed clothes and headed to the bathroom for a shower. As he undressed he idly thought about what terrors today would bring. _'Just another day I guess'_ he sighed to himself _'I just hope I can survive the day without getting beat too badly.'_

Yuugi showered quickly, knowing that there were two others in the house who needed to shower before they left for school. Wrapping himself in a towel he went to the sink and brushed his teeth. Drying off he re-dressed slowly, mindful of his bruises as he bent to grab each article of clothing. Yuugi grabbed the last item on the floor, he looked down when he realized it was heavy. Groaning he realized he had grabbed his puzzle. He held it in both his hands as fresh tears came to his eyes.

_'no.'_ he thought _'not mine, not anymore.' _with determination he walked out of the bathroom and over to Atemu's door. He placed the chain around the handle then simply walked away. _'You can have that back Pharaoh.' _his thoughts taking an angry turn. _'I dont want it anymore so i__'__ll just cast it aside like you did with me.'_ with that Yuugi grabbed his backpack, put on his shoes and walked out of the house, slamming the door on the way out.


	3. On the roof again

Chapter 3:

On the roof again.

A/N Hey guys! Sorry about the absence from my stories, however I hope you guys do enjoy this chapter! Please review~!

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Atemu woke to the sound of the front door slamming shut, groaning he rolled over and stretched working the kinks out of his body. With a content sigh he blearily opened his eyes and got out bed. Looking at his alarm clock he groaned again and stumbled over to his closet. He hurriedly grabbed his uniform and exited his room, furrowing his brow he turned to face his door. There resting innocently on his door nob was the Puzzle, Atemu grabbed it by the chain and lifted it a look of confusion marring his features.

'_whats this doing here?'_ he thought with a frown _'I thought it was Yuugi's week to wear it.' _

With a shrug Atemu added it to his pile of clothes and rushed to the bathroom for a shower. After he had showered and dressed he made his way to Yami's room to wake the lazy lout up. Opening the door Atemu shook his head, there in the middle of the bed in a cocoon of blankets wrapped tightly around him was the unmistakable ball that was Yami. A wicked smirk came to Atemu's lips backing out of the room, he got into a running position and charged, when he was almost to Yami's bed Atemu jumped and landed with a thud on the other boy.

Yami came awake with a shriek of "Atemu!" Atemu laughed and rolled off him.

"Get up Yami, if you dont want to be late for school I suggest you get in the shower now."

Yami groaned "Fine! Where's Yuugi? I thought we were going to actually walk with him today?"

Atem sighed and shook his head. "He left already Yami, and I thought you said his alarm usually wakes you up in the morning?"

Yami grumbled something unintelligible and turned to Atemu "We will have to make time for him then after school, maybe play some video games with him, think he will like that?"

Atemu nodded "I think he would love that."

Yami smiled and ushered Atemu out of his room so he could grab the things he needed for his shower.

Yuugi thanked every deity he knew that he made it to school without incident. It was the first time in a long time that he wasn't limping to his seat. Once he was in his seat in the back of the room nearest the window he took out a book and began to read. He must have gotten lost in the words and safety the book required because before he knew it the bell signaling classes to start was ringing. Shaking his head he pulled out his work book and waited for the teacher to call for them. Once he handed in his work he pulled out a note book and pen, however instead of taking notes as he normally would Yuugi began to doodle. A sharp knock broke him out his doodle trance and he looked up.

His maths teacher looked to be having a heated argument if the look on his face was anything to go by. The words however were lost to him as the teacher was whispering, finally a look of defeat washed over his teachers features and his shoulders slumped. He nodded sharply and gestured simply pointed into the room.

Four bored looking people walked into the room. Yuugi looked over at the group with eyebrows raised. Two of them he recognized, Malik Ishtar, and Ryou Bakura, but who were those other two? Yuugi looked over them, without his say so the image of a laughing girl, black hair flying around her sapphire colored eyes sparkling with obvious joy.

Yuugi froze in his seat _'no'_ he thought with a twinge of panic _'it cant be! She's...she's dead!'_ Yuugi let his eyes scan over the girl, they looked so similar, the same waist length black hair, same colored eyes, even the same color of skin. Surely it couldnt be? Yuugi shook his head he couldnt let himself hope, he didnt dare to.

"Class." the teacher barked snapping the classes attention back to him from the strange students "since we have other things we must get to today I will make this quick. Please welcome Malik Ishtar, Akefia Czar, Nuri Anutep, and lets re-welcome Ryou Bakura, who has just come back from Egypt as an exchange student. Now that that is over take your seats, and try not to cause any disruptions."

The new students seemed to scan the room before giving each other a barely noticeable nod and taking what looked to be random seats. Akefia took an empty seat in front of Atemu with Yami to his right. Malik took a seat in between Honda and Jou, Ryou took the only seat in the front of the class, Nuri took the seat directly in front of Yuugi. The girl however instead of turning to talk to Yuugi as any other student would have done and ask him about his hair, the girl simply took out a notebook and pen and began scribbling.

Suddenly a folded piece of paper hit Yuugi's arm. Once again Yuugi looked confused, glancing up to make sure that the teacher had his back turned Yuugi opened the note.

_ Heba,_

_No, dont be alarmed nuur. Meet me on the school roof at lunch time, I shall explain more if y__ou come. _

_Gypsy_

Yuugi staired down at the note dumbfounded. Heba, she had called him Heba, what kind of sick game was this? There was no possible way that she could be back. Yuugi turned his gaze to Yami and Atemu, the only two other people who knew of Nuri's existence, he clenched his teeth and began shaking in anger. Why would they do something like that! It was sick, despicable! Sure they had ignored him and written him off for their friends but would they really sick this low? Yuugi shook his head and hid the note, that was the only explanation that sounded even the slightest bit sane.

~_Else where_

Nara bit her lip, to her right stood Ishizu her face impassive. Marik and Bakura stood on her left each wearing a bored look. Ishizu cleared her throat.

"Remember to let me do the talking." she says in a soft voice, they were all taking a risk here, letting Yuugi's grandpa in on who they really were and having him believe them was iffy at best. They all nodded however knowing that this was essential, for while Yuugi could know, Yami and Atemu could not. Ishizu didnt quite trust them anymore and really this was more about fixing Yuugi then entertaining the two former pharaohs.

With that Ishizu placed a hand on the door nob of the game shops' door and opened it quickly. They all walked in rather quickly.

"Welcome to...Ms Ishtar?" Yuugi's grandpa says walking in from the back room.

"Good to see you again Mr. Muto, I take it you're shop is doing well?"

Solomon nodded "Quite well in fact, I guess that comes with having a celebrity of a grandson." he chuckled slightly. "May I inquire as to the visit? The worlds not in danger again is it?"

Ishizu smiles and shakes her head slightly. "No more than usual, though if things progress the way the have been we could all very much be in danger."

A dark look fell over Solomon's features. "Whats going on and what can I do to help?"

Ishizu's smile grew. "I had a feeling you would say that."

With that she began to tell the tale of what was happening, every now and again Nara would interject what she had seen from the after life. About an hour later they finally finished their story.

Solomon looked confused. "I dont get it though, why do you need my help?"

Ishizu sighed "Story validation mostly, if Yuugi chooses to believe Nuri and Akefia today, and believe me I have all the faith that he will, the Pharaoh and Yami can not know about it. I have no doubts Atemu will at the very least recognize her given their past together, however Nuri will do her best to make it seem as if she has no idea who he is. We need to fix the balance before Atemu can even have a chance to fix his mistake. He will push the idea that she is the same Nuri from the past, your part of this story is mostly that Yuugi met her when you took him to Egypt sightseeing while you worked on a dig, while on the dig you left him with one of your friends Nuri and Nara's mother and father, Akefia was an orphan that stayed with them, can you do that?"

Solomon thought on the one hand he could see how miserable Yuugi had been lately, despite his best attempts to hide it from the older man, on the other he had come to think of Yami and Atemu as grandsons along with Yuugi. Was it really right to device them.

"Solomon." Nara's voice cut through his racing thoughts "May I confide in you? You must not let Yuugi know however."

Solomon nodded. "Of course you may Nara. I have often dreamed of my past life as the Priest of the Pharaohs court so I remember you well, you never lied."

Nara nodded "Why would I need to? But thats beside the point, After our deaths as you know Nuri and I both chose to watch over Yuugi in his next life, just to make sure he was going to be okay. He means that much to the both of us. There are things that Nuri and I have seen, things he never tells anyone, hes been beaten, bloodied, bullied and hospitalized, never once did Nuri or I see him stop holding on to his life so tightly, after he met Yami and finally had a friend, albeit the rather crazy one he was at first, he had a friend and for the first time since his father's death we saw Yuugi shine like the light he was. Then something changed, I couldnt tell you when, but it did, he stopped smiling and when he did he forced it for you, so you wouldnt have to see the pain he was in. They abandoned him plain and simple Solomon, that is the only reason why my sister, the robber and I are here. We are neither light nor dark, we simply are. The balance is off as Ishizu told you."

Nara wiped her eyes as tears came without her consent to her eyes, "That however Nuri and I could care less about, the only thing we care about is Yuugi's happiness and dammit Solomon those two are killing him, and that pisses me off. He smokes and is starting to think he deserves the beatings he's getting at school. There is one other thing he is hiding." she paused. "that is not my place to tell you sadly, please Solomon I can understand your concerns about lying to Yami and Atemu, but please understand where I am coming from, where Nuri is coming from. We care about our little beag grámhara*, we cant stand to see him this way." Nara looked down as now the tears she fought to keep away began spilling down her cheeks.

Solomon was dumbfounded, anger steadily grew within his chest "Ill do it." he growled his eyes flashing dangerously.

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A/N2: Alright so the little astrik is Irish Gealic im pretty sure and it means loving light. You will find out later why she uses this particular language! One again please review!


	4. Enjoy the silence

Ayyyyeeee-yaaaaah! -smacks head against near by table- I am so sorry it has taken me this long to upload something! I should have put up a notice on my page that I was going to be away! Bad author! Anyway, once again I am sorry for the lateness of the update, because of certain situations and things of the like I have been made to attend this stupid thing called Job Corps (if you are thinking of attending this place my personal advice is to not to. IF you have heard any horror stories about it then believe them 99% of the time they are true. For example since being there, there have been 5 drug busts, 1 whiskey related incident, and two possession of deadly weapon incidents. I have only been there for 4 months now and the amount of students sent home as a result of these incidents has taken the amount of students that were there (around 450) to just under 180) So yeah job corps rant, in conclusion the place sucks in general. End of rant on with the story!

Chapter 4

Enjoy the silence

Nuri bit her lip and tried to pay attention to the lesson, what the hell were all these numbers? Sure she knew a little bit of math ( mostly from watching over Yuugi all these years) but this? What the hell was this? She shook her head and sighed slightly this was one thing they didnt count on. How in the world did Ishizu expect them to pass High school?

Out of the corner of her eye Nuri saw the Pharaoh Atemu gawking at her, she rolled her eyes and turned her full attention to the teacher attempting to at least learn what the hell he was talking about.

~Else where~

Ishizu smiled "Great choice Solomon, now as I have said you need to stick to the story as much as possible, Atemu at the very least will look for inconsistencies in your story, little things here and there that will give it away as a lie. He is very good at that aspect of fact finding, however if you stick to it as strictly as you can then eventually he will give up trying to find out if you are lying or not. He must not know not yet."

Solomon nodded "Dont worry Ishizu, this I can do. When should I expect Nuri to start coming around?"

Nara opened her mouth "Well, there are some key things that Nuri will show Yuugi to make him believe her. Right now its up in the air. Sadly it depends on if she can keep her temper in check. This is a gamble at best."

Marik stood "She should have gotten him the message by now, we must work quickly here, its almost lunch time."

~back at the school~

Nuri felt her heart drop as the bell for lunch rang out like a shrill scream piercing the night. Slowly she stood and began walking out of the classroom, suddenly she was wrenched back by her arm, she cried out as pain shot up her arm from her wrist. Turning Nuri glared at whom she saw grabbing her.

"Can I help you?" she hissed attempting to pull her arm out of Atemu's hold.

"Gypsy?" he asked wonder in his voice

"Who?" she asked feigning ignorance, 'shit shit shit, I need to get to Yuugi' she thought panicked

"It's you! It has to be! You look exactly alike! There is no difference!" he said with conviction and grabbed the collar of her shirt

Stunned Nuri began struggling more against Atemu's hold, it was too soon for him to find out who she was, in desperation Nuri began screaming

"Let me go! Let me go!" she yelled.

"Hey you!" a familiar voice rang out

Nuri felt like she was flying as she was lifted into the air, at the same time she felt like she was being strangled as her shirt began ripping from Atemu's strong hold on her collar. She fell to the ground gasping for breath hot tears stinging her eyes and black dots appearing in her vision. Nuri coughed and heard Atemu's yell and him clattering to the floor.

"Nuri, come on Nuri talk to me," Akefia's concerned voice washed over her like a warm comforting blanket.

"Akefia." she wheezed out

Akefia sighed in relief "Thank Ra." he whispered and pulled off his jacket placing it over Nuri's mostly torn shirt. Slowly he buttoned her up and helped her stand. "Are you okay?" he asked looking her over

Nuri nodded "Besides a little neck pain yes I am fine." She looked up at the clock and her eyes got wide "Damn it!" she swore softly and looked Akefia in the eyes "Distract him, I need to get to Yuugi with out him following." she whispered

A dark look washed over Akefia's face as he slowly smiled "My pleasure Nuri. Got lots of pay back I need to cash in with this one."

Nuri smiled uneasily and bolted out of the room, quickly she found the stairs to the roof and ran up them two at a time. She burst through the door and immediately ran into someone, with the speed she had been running the two fell over, Nuri landing on top of said person.

"Today is so not my day." she groaned out in her native language accidentally. Standing up unsteadily she looked down at the person ready to apologize. Yuugi was already standing on his feet rubbing his head.

"What is your problem lady?" he growled with hatred staining his voice.

Nuri was taken a back, her eyes grew wide. "What are you talking about?" she asked softly.

"I'm talking about you!" he yelled. "Atemu and Yami obviously set this up! They knew about someone from my past! They really did a number this time, finding someone who looks exactly like her." Suddenly he turned away from her and began yelling at the sky "What did I do to deserve this huh? Anything else I could have handled but this? No not this! Never this! Dammit pharaohs! Your sick! I hate you!"

"HEBA!" Nuri yelled over his ranting, this got an immediate reaction from Yuugi he turned around anger in his eyes

"Dont call me that!" he yelled. "you dont have a right to! You're not her! You cant be her!" the last part he sobbed out and fell to his knees. "Why? Why! What have I done wrong." Yuugi cried out, the soul wrenching sorrow.

Nuri's breathing hitched as she she fought the urge to cry, this wasnt how it was supposed to be, he wasnt supposed to be in this much pain. Nuri knelt down to his level and sat in front of him. "Yuugi," she said softly just to get his attention, it worked as Yuugi looked at her his eyes shinning with tears. Sighing Nuri took of her right shoe, next came off her sock. "Look Heba, I dont think Atemu or Yami would be willing to inflict this on someone just for the sake of hurting you."

Slowly Yuugi looked down and gasped, there on her ankle where two perfectly white rounded and raised marks, quickly he looked back up at her.

"Snake bit marks." he whispered in wonderment, thoughts raced through his head. He knew the way Nuri had died back then. It was something that haunted his nightmares on those nights he had cried himself to sleep.

Nuri nodded and put back on her sock and shoe. "Yeah," she whispered. "Please Heba, I only want to help you. I've watched over you for so many years hoping that you would find peace and happieness with the life you have been given, It hurt me so much to see what they were doing to you. I couldnt stand by and let that happen, Nara and I." she shook her head before continuing, "We were both so worried about you. We knew you wouldnt last much longer, how could you? You were being torn apart from the inside out. So we did something about it. Ra let us come back here to help you."

Nuri reached down and hugged the small teen to her chest this is what she wanted. This was what she was willing to die a true death over, not that Yuugi needed to know that. She wanted him happy that is all that mattered to her. And by the gods if she needed to bash in the heads of those two pharaohs she would gladly do it.

"Please Heba," she pleaded sofly. "please just let me help you"

Yuugi let out a chocked sob, this couldnt be real, and yet here she was in the flesh. His gypsy girl taken from him much too young. "Nuri." he cried out. "Nuri, youre here, youre really really here."

"Shhhh Yuugi." she coaxed "It's alright little nuur, everything will be okay." even as the words left her mouth she knew it was a lie. Eventually yes things would be okay, but for the moment everything was so not okay and for that heads would roll. Nuri stood dragging Yuugi with her. "Come now little one. Lets get back before the others think something is up, one encounter with Atemu is all I need for the week thank you very much."

Yuugi giggled and nodded a slight smile coming to his features. "Encounter? My seems like you have had a rather interesting day, and its only lunch!"

Nuri laughed "Yes, thats the way it would seem." she reached for his hand "What do you say we raise a little hell? Oh! I almost forgot, just so we keep certain people in the dark for now you must say that you and I were childhood friends that met when your grandfather took you to Egypt when he was on a dig. While there he didnt want to leave you alone so he asked my parents if you would be able to stay with us, my parents being the gracious hosts that they were, accepted immediately. Since then we havent been the best about contacting one another. Sadly tragedy hit and both my parents died quite suddenly. In their will it specified that we were to come to Japan so that your grandfather would be able to keep an eye on us and make sure that we didnt get into anything bad." Nuri chuckled "We only came to Domino yesterday and enrolled in school that next day. You didnt know we were coming till we showed up here. Hence the roof top meet and greet."

Yuugi nodded his understanding. "Right, thats a lot to process Gypsy, but I guess I can do it. Wait, Atemu knew you in the past, is he going to be suspicious?"

Nuri shrugged "The hell if I care, but for the sake of not under estimating his stupidity I say that yes he is going to be very curious. However we can not let on that we know a lick of what he is talking about. As I said, one encounter with him is all I need for the week. All I can handle really without busting his face open."

Yuugi laughed uncomfortably, "right well...we cant have that now can we?" suddenly his face fell a frown replacing the small smile he had. "What if he tries to take you away from me?" he asked in a small voice, fear coloring his tone.

Nuri snorted "Well thats just too damn bad now isnt it? He aint the Pharaoh any more kiddo, as far as I am concerned he can take his wants and words and shove them..."

"Nuri!" Yuugi chastiesed blushing. "Language!"

Nuri rolled her eyes "Yeah yeah I got it nuur. Tone down the cussing. I can promise to try."

Yuugi sighed knowing that it was the best he would get out of the Gypsy girl. As Nuri lead them off the roof and down the stairs to the main part of the school Yuugi couldn't help but wonder why the gods had sent her here. Sure they were best friends in the past but that was so long ago now. What if she had changed in a way he wasnt able to get used to? What if he had changed in a way Nuri couldn't stand? These thoughts raced through his head along with the big one. What if this really wasn't Nuri? What if he had been tricked and fell for it? Yuugi bit his lip, for now he would continue the charade of trusting her to be his friend from the past. Only time would tell if she really was.

Did you like? Please review!


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